Nvidia questions unofficial Ion 2 netbook benchmarks

Nvidia has questioned the accuracy of an unflattering Ion 2 benchmark test.

The test, which was conducted by Netbook News at MWC 2010, claimed that an Ion 2-powered Aspire One netbook (532G) was outperformed by its Ion LE predecessor in a 3DMark03 graphic drag race.

Indeed, the 532G only managed to achieve a score of 3,049, while the Ion LE-powered Samsung N510 netbook racked up 3,593 points on the same test.

"I can't vouch for the accuracy of the benchmark that was performed at that show. I believe the units there were pre-release systems," an Nvidia spokesperson told TG Daily.

"We haven't provided performance data yet for the public, we'll have more details coming in early March."

Meanwhile, Brian Barrett of Gizmodo speculated that there were two possible explanations for the unflattering benchmark results.

"It's possible that Acer and Nvidia purposefully hamstrung the machine to keep it stable during demonstrations," opined Barrett.

"Then again, it's also possible that Nvidia has had a difficult time working with the Aspire One 532G's Pine Trail processor. [But] we won't know for sure how the Ion 2 stacks up until we're able to test a production-ready unit."